How to Deploy UCC Applications and Bring Offices Together, without Bringing Down the Network

One key to transforming any workplace into a digital workplace is unified communications and collaboration (UCC) technology. These tools — video and audio conferencing applications, as well as e-learning platforms — bring together offices separated by physical distances, enable face-to-face interactions that were previously only possible by actually meeting in-person, and facilitate seamless, real-time collaboration.

Of course, these tools aren't perfect, as anyone who has ever been frustrated by a frozen video feed, choppy audio quality or dropped conversations, can tell you. The reason these glitches occur is because video and other UCC applications consume high amounts of bandwidth and require a steady, continuous stream of packets in order to perform up to user expectations. Their usage places immense pressure on the network and can even threaten the performance of other business-critical applications, such as enterprise resource planning systems.

Fortunately for enterprises that deploy UCC technology, video and audio conferencing applications have shown marked improvement recently — 87 percent of users now say they use video conferencing more than they did two years ago, while 95 percent say that these services are more reliable.

A company that as seen this change first-hand is Globus, one of the leading retail companies in Germany. With its 159 locations in Germany, Russia, Luxembourg and the Czech Republic, Globus needed a way to connect its 32,500 employees across all locations, allowing teams to overcome the physical distance and collaborate just as they would face-to-face, without any gaps in productivity or excessive travel costs.

But it wasn't enough for Globus to simply provide UCC tools to its employees. The end user quality of experience (QoE) was critical. Globus knew that adoption rates would suffer if employees had a poor experience with the technology.

As Globus rolled out its new UCC system, it relied on the fully integrated Ipanema Application Control solution to gain access to dynamic and real-time application performance visibility, as well as WAN Optimization and Dynamic WAN Selection. With Application Control from Ipanema, Globus was able to:

Overcome IT complexity business and protect business-critical applications against resource-intensive UCC applications

Guarantee performance of new UCC solutions, including audio and video conferencing, and create an excellent end-user experience

Beyond these benefits, Application Control from Ipanema also ensures that Globus' network infrastructure is better positioned for future technology upgrades. Video conferencing may be the technology of the day, but Globus is now better prepared in the event it rolls out the next UCC technology that makes workplace collaboration even easier.

To learn more about how Globus guarantees performance of video conferencing technology, while reducing WAN costs, please see our case study.